NHTSA Complaint #10041142 — 1997 CHEVROLET MALIBU

BASICALLY THIS IS TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE GM 3.1L V6 ENGINE IN MY 1997 CHEVROLET MALIBU. I UNDERSTAND THAT THERE ARE 1100 COMPLAINTS AND WOULD APPRECIATE SOME HELP WITH MY SITUATION ALSO. IN THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS MY VEHICLE HAS STARTED TO HAVE A MULTITUDE OF PROBLEMS THAT HAD LED UP TO MY CURRENT FIASCO. ABOUT 2 WEEKS AGO AFTER AN OIL CHANGE, MY 97 MALIBU BEGAN TO HAVE PROBLEMS WITH A LIFTER 'TICKING.' MY MECHANIC SUSPECTS A COLLAPSED LIFTER; THIS HAS NOT BEEN REPAIRED YET. MY CAR ALSO NOW RUNS VERY ROUGH AND DOES NOT HAVE THE POWER IT USED TO HAVE. TODAY, 10/2/03, I WENT TO SEATTLE AND EXPERIENCED A SEVERE HEATING PROBLEM. THE TEMP GAUGE BEGAN TO RISE VERY QUICKLY AS WE ARRIVED AT OUR DESTINATION JUST SOUTH OF SEATTLE, THE NEEDLE WAS PEGGED AND THE TEMP LIGHT ACTUALLY CAME ON. I HAD DEX-COOL ANTI-FREEZE LEAKING ALL OVER THE ENGINE AND ALL OVER THE GROUND. WE WAITED FOR APPROXIMATELY 30 MINUTES BEFORE WE STARTED OUT AGAIN AND YES WERE AFRAID THE ENTIRE WAY HOME THAT WE WOULD GET STRANDED ON THE ROAD SOMEWHERE. I GOT THE CAR TO MY MECHANIC AND HE HAS INFORMED US THAT WE PROBABLY NEED A NEW ENGINE, ON A CAR THAT ONLY HAS 95,000 MILES ON IT. I HAVE READ OTHER COMPLAINTS ON THE INTERNET ABOUT THE FAULTY GASKETS WHICH RESULT IN ANTI-FREEZE LEAKING INTO THE ENGINE CAUSING BAD CAMSHAFTS, BAD BEARINGS AND WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE. IF I HAD THE RESOURCES TO DUMP THE PIECE OF JUNK I JUST MIGHT, HOWEVER I DO NOT HAVE THE RECOURSES TO DO THAT, I MUST GET IT FIXED. *LA